The fire in the stars
by Shadows of Sorrowful Smiles
Summary: Yay, I finally came up with a name! The place where I dump my mini-one shots, of various genres but always Nalu. Chapters will have their own summaries at the beginning. Chapter 3 is up
1. Fan site

**As some of you might know, I have posted quite a few (like, 2) one shots recently instead of updating more important things, so I've decided to create a "multichapter" story where I dump all my bloobs of inspiration. 'Bloobs' is mine. I copyright it. Bloobs of inspiration inspired this previous one-shot to become part of a many one-shot story…..**

**If I owned Fairy Tail do you think I would be here?**

**No.**

**I would be in my mansion, cackling over my cruelty at hinting all these wonderful couples like NaLu and Gruvia and yet refusing to let them kiss and become cannon =_=**

"Hey… Natsu, look at this," Lucy murmured, lifting her eyes up from her laptop to glance at her sleepy partner. He blinked his eyes open slowly, and she found herself smiling softly from the adorable sight as he fought sleep. Unlike others, this was an enemy he didn't seem capable of beating.

"Hmm…?" he replied, making his way to the desk where Lucy sat, leaning over her shoulder to peer at the screen that she had turned to display for him. "… What is that?"

"Some fans made a website about us," she mused softly, scrolling down the page to read the things people had posted about their favorite Fairy Tail mages. "People all over Fiore are posting comments about us; things they noticed, things they admire, etc. it's really… endearing, to know that people care this much for us," she said, the second sentence mostly to herself.

Natsu leaned so far forward she would have Lucy Kicked him then and there for being a pervert had she not been able to tell he was almost dead asleep on his feet. She watched, amused, as he slowly face planted into her laptop. He really was adorable at times, she noticed with a smile, lifting him away from the laptop and, after only a moment or so of hesitation, she consented to laying him on her bed.

Much as she disliked him and his blue friend constantly breaking into her apartment and sneaking into her bed, when Natsu acted as sweet and childish as this she just couldn't help but baby him.

The dragon-slayer practically purred, sinking into the soft foam mattress with one eye open and staring at Lucy, waiting for her to climb in beside him and cuddle up so they could sleep. He even stretched out an arm to catch her sleeve as she turned away, with a pout.

"I'm not really tired right now, Natsu," Lucy told him. "Besides, I want to check out the fan site. I really want to see what people are saying about me."

She tugged her sleeve out of his grip and settled back into her desk, aware of the irritated, yet disappointed, boy fixing her with a hard stare. As if that could persuade her to get in beside him.

Lucy fixed her attention back on the laptop, scanning the page for any mention of her name.

She found it half-way down, began to read, eagerly and—

—and had to slip a fist into her mouth to muffle the sob so that her half-asleep partner couldn't hear it.

Was _this _really what people thought about her? That she was some kind of… some kind of _slut_ or something? That she wore such revealing outfits because she wanted to seduce the male members of her team? That the only things she was good for were her generous assets?

A tear slid down her cheek.

_**Lucy is probably the weakest member of Fairy Tail. It's no wonder she wears such slutty clothes; she obviously thinks her looks get her points**_~ CuckooNutGirl19

_**I don't know why Natsu and Gray bother to pretend to be nice to her. It's obvious that nobody actually likes that whore**_~ NatsuDragneelIsHot4563

_**Such a surprise that they haven't kicked her out yet. Those three are probably in some sort of sex scandal, she seems like the type **_~

_**Can't believe that bitch has the nerve to even think about Natsu when it's so clear that he belongs to Lisanna. They were practically dating before, and now she's back. I can't believe anybody could be that selfish enough to keep them apart!**_~NatsuLisannaForever

Lucy averted her eyes from the hateful words, heart clenching. This wasn't even the worst, she could tell just by skimming over the rest of the section she was mentioned in. it was filled with loathing remarks from Nali lovers, or people who just plain wanted to call her names.

"What's the matter, Luce? Why are you crying?" Natsu whispered from his perch on her bed.

Lucy turned back to face him almost lifelessly. What if those people were true about what they said? What if none of the kind mages she had grown to love and cherish returned her feelings? She was so deep in worry and her insecurities she hardly noticed the fire mage stagger over and loop an arm around her shoulders to pull her into a tight hug.

At his touch, she broke down, dissolving into his arms with tears bubbling and streaming, sobbing over the horrible things she'd just found out. She was immensely grateful that he didn't pull away from the hug.

"What's the matter, Lucy?" his voice was thick with worry, of concern. It surprised her even more. Not that it should, she reminded herself bittersweetly; Natsu was, after all, the kind of guy to always be friendly, no matter the circumstances. Lucy didn't respond, too thankful for this trait to do so.

XxX

Natsu was confused, to say the least, when he'd smelled the bitter tang of tears mere minutes after Lucy had rejected going to bed in favor of checking out the website. When he'd glanced up and saw that she was sobbing in despair. He'd never liked seeing anybody sad, especially not his partner, so this utter misery she was in made his heart ache.

He'd pulled her into his arms right after, knowing that whenever he was down, her hugs always made him feel better so it was well-worth trying to see if it would help with her.

While Lucy cried in his arms, he shifted his gaze to the laptop, guessing it had something to do with his best friend's despair. Natsu's eyes scanned the screen, and he went rigid as he saw the first comment on the top of the screen. He read the rest, knowing these horribly hurtful things were what was paining Lucy. His arms tightened around her in sympathy, and in anger. If he ever saw those horrible people who had said these things he would light them on fire and burn them to a pile of ash remorselessly. His heart seemed to burn whenever tears seeped through the fabric of his vest and onto his skin. Her pain was his pain, and she was hurting a whole lot right now.

"S' all right, Lucy," he whispered fiercely, nuzzling into her blonde hair. "Those are all lies. Lies. Don't let that get to you."

"N-no," she whimpered. "IT's true… I really am weak. I deserve all of—"

"Don't you ever, _ever_ think that you are weak, because you are far from it!" Natsu reprimanded, angrily. Being burned to a crisp was now not enough of a punishment anymore, for causing these insecurities to affect Lucy as much as they did. "You are not weak! I know you aren't, and everybody in Fairy Tail knows you aren't! You don't deserve any of this bull shit! This is just people jealous of you, and of everything you have! Don't let it get to you."

She cried harder, and Natsu worried if what he had said actually made her feel better at all. Gently, he pulled away at arm's length to fix her with a stern look, which melted when she sniffled cutely to try and stop the tears from flowing so heavily.

"Lucy Heartphilia," he began, voice thankfully deep and rumbling and not the embarrassing high pitched whine he was afraid it would be, "Don't you ever for a moment think that you are not loved, not cherished by any of your friends. Levy loves you. Erza loves you. Mira loves you. Gray loves you. Happy loves you. _I_ love you. Just because of some stupid people, you are doubting everything, and that isn't fair." He tilted his head forward so that their foreheads bumped together, amused slightly by the faint pink blush coloring her cheeks at his confession. "Just forget it. never will we ever think of you in such horrible ways, ok?" when she nodded, after a while, he leaned just the last few inches to briefly press his lips against hers before pulling away with a smile.

"T-thanks," Lucy flushed, leaning into him with her eyes closed. Her chest finally stopped heaving, and although crying so much had caused hiccups to begin she was smiling back against him. Pleased that he was able to make her feel better, Natsu kissed the top of her head again before sneaking a finger covered in flame toward the laptop which had started this whole mess. If he could only turn this into ashes, maybe in time Lucy would forget her insecurities about what the stupid people had said.

"You better not be doing what I think you're doing," Lucy mumbled into her best friend's (**or maybe more…? :D**) muscular chest. The lit finger halted as instantly as it had begun to move, and Natsu chuckled sheepishly into her hair before lifting her into the bridal position and setting her down gently against her amazing bed, climbing into it himself after she was all tucked in.

Of course, he made a mental note to destroy the Laptop before she woke up.

He could always blame it on Gray.

**How'd you all like my first chapter? It actually feels great to have a story I don't feel like I need to update as often as I can because this is something I can just add to whenever and**

**At this point I'm only rambling so it doesn't quite matter. School just started back up again so my ridiculous amount of freetime has just died away….**

**It shall be missed. **


	2. Glass

I** got positive response on my last one-shot so I decided to update this quickly!**

**Summary:**

**They don't get to visit her often, though they want to. Visiting hours have been restricted to half an hour, per week, because of the fire dragon's destructiveness. They hardly recognize her anymore. It's like she's made of glass.**

**She breaks when she's touched.**

**It's easy to see right through her lies when she tells them she's fine.**

**Her eyes have been glazed and glassy for the last few years.**

**But they're used to that. Because she's Lucy Heartphilia, their Glass Girl.**

**This one's kind of angsty, but then again I'm writing it while being in an angsty mood.**

* * *

February 1st, X794

"You remembered the key, right, Natsu?" Erza asks, resting a hand on the cool metal bar of the front door. She shifts her wait onto the bar so that the door begins to tilt open while she waits for an answer.

The impulsive mage grins and pulls out the silver key from where he'd tucked it safely in his scarf. "Luce is going to love this!" he cheers, pushing through the door with a loud whoop. Instantly, Erza claps a hand over his mouth, reminding him sternly why their visiting time had already been cut short- him. Natsu chuckles and begins to march his way up to the room he'd visited almost every week in the past two years. Erza watches him go with a bittersweet sigh, while the other two members of their party push the doors open and make their appearances, albeit late.

"You.. didn't ... have to... punch out the... entire wagon..." Gray pants, struggling to catch his breath. Erza shrugs in response. "The driver made... us walk the rest of... the way here!" Gray adds, hoping to stir up some sympathy in the red haired mage. "And we even had to pay for the damage... that you and Natsu caused!"

"Aye!" Happy agrees as he sags on the ice mage's shoulders.

Erza shrugs again, and moves to the check in counter of the mental house. The clerk glances up from her cell phone and looks at them, before reaching into the counter and sliding out three metallic bronze cards.

"She's a little unstable today," the clerk says, returning her attention to the phone. She's done this every week for these same people, and now they have a routine. "Try not to speak loudly. It upsets her."

Erza nods, although the clerk doesn't see, and passes a card to Gray. The three of them follow the path that Natsu had gone just a few minutes before, knowing that he wouldn't have made it to her room yet because of the recent check-in wall that had been added in her hall. They need security cards to get in, and to get out, and Natsu is never patient enough to get a card so he is forced to wait until Erza comes to check them through. She grabs the edge of his scaled scarf before sliding her card through its designated slot, and the thick steel doors slide back, revealing the hall for the most damaged patients.

It currently is inhabited by one patient only, the one known throughout the mental house as the "Glass Girl" for her disturbingly fragile state of mind and body.

Natsu strains against his scarf but does not try too hard, knowing that Erza will release him when she has said what she needs to say.

"She's unstable today," the redhead tells him, staring straight ahead. "Do not be loud. It disturbs her."

Natsu nods quickly and is freed, so he dashes to the only locked room in the hall and stands on his toes to peer through the tiny barred window at the top of the door. She is nowhere near the door, so he takes the card Erza has given him and slides it through the slot, waiting for the tell-tale "click" that meant the door was unlocked.

Erza, Gray, and Happy all made it to him by the time the door clicks, so they push it open and glance in together. They only have half an hour, and four minutes have already passed. She sits on the square brick of foam that is her bed, but she is facing the wall. Her fingers trace shapes on the white wall, and she hums very quietly. It is silent amongst the visitors. She hasn't looked this peaceful since she came here. Natsu takes a step forward and clears his throat, waiting while she slowly turns to look at him, matted blonde hair falling over her shoulders, eyes dull and glassy. He takes a sharp breath. He, after two years, is still not used to the vacant look in Lucy's eyes, in the dead way she responds to everything, so he just extends his arm and opens his fist, revealing the silver key.

Lucy's eyes drift from his face to the key, but no emotion flashes. No recognition, no gratitude, nothing. It's as if she's dead, they all think, but none say it out loud. Natsu swallows loudly. "We brought you Plue," he tells her, but his voice is still thick. Lucy hasn't spoken in their last three visits. Her nurses told them that she was getting worse.

Lucy stares at the celestial spirit for a long time, before reaching out and taking it from Natsu's hands. The four watch her lift the key up and examine it, hoping that she will remember, that she will become the Lucy that they know again. They hold their breaths as she stands and holds the key out, and let it out in shaky disappointment when she only shoves poor Plue against the card lock of the door. She frowns when the key doesn't go in, and stares at again. Lucy drops the key and shuffles back to her bed, visitors sighing. Happy floats down and picks up Plue's fallen key, handing it to Erza and flying up to Natsu's head. Erza checks her watch while Gray sits on the bed next to Lucy. She turns her gaze back to them. Eighteen minutes left.

Up until four weeks ago, she could still recognize them. She still spoke and she still smiled and she still was_ Lucy. _But then Natsu tried to sneak her back through the doors with them, without anybody knowing because he'd thought she was all better, but when the nurses and guards came to take her back he attacked them, and Lucy was terrified. She fainted then and there, and hadn't spoken since.

Since then, all of the Fairy Tail mages had taken their turn to come try to restore some of Lucy's memory, and today Erza and Natsu had planned using her celestial keys to make her remember her magic. Gray forms tiny ice-sculptures of their _nakama_ and gives them to Lucy to look at, but Natsu, being on her other side, melts them as soon as her pale hands touch the ice. The boy finally holds his power back when the Natsu sculpture is made, along with a Lucy one, and the girl holds both in her hands. The four visitors watch her study the ice for a handful of seconds, and then she throws the Natsu to the ground where he shatters, and then flings her own statue against the wall where it sinks through before cracking as well.

They are speechless. And then Gray quickly melts his ice, wondering if the statues were a bad idea. Natsu stares at the puddle that was him, wondering if Lucy knew what she was doing when she threw him away. Erza watches Lucy sit there, wondering if she could have done anything to prevent this horror. Happy cries softly, wondering if Lucy will ever be the same again.

And Lucy calmly wipes her hands against the foam brick, wondering who these strangers are.

February 8th, X794

"I don't think I remembered to bring our cards!" Levy panics as she stands outside the door with the metal bar. Gajeel, Lily, Wendy, and Charle stand beside her, all silently begging someone else to be the first to open the door. Gajeel snorts and pushes through, and the girls and cats follow through.

"Don't worry, Levy," Charle tells her. "I foresaw that you might forget and have already brought them." the white cat pulls out bronze cards for the other four and they wave to the clerk at the counter before heading up to the hall where Lucy lived.

"I don't get why _we_ have to still use these cards when it was _Salamander_ who messed up in the first place," Gajeel grumbles, but he pushes his card through and enters.

"Because we're all guildmates and we do things together," Lily answers as he follows him.

Wendy and Levy nod in approval when they go through. When Charle passes through though, her already pale face whitens even more and she gasps.

"Lucy!" and then the five of them are sprinting for the room where their guild mate gone mad was in.

When the door clicked open, Lucy was twisting and screaming, clawing at the walls and darting around her room with shrieks and howls of horror and terror and other things.

instantly, Gajeel reaches and grabs her arms, while Lily grows to his big size and wraps his arms around the struggling girl. Tears splash down her cheeks and her muffled cries cease. Levy soothingly strokes her arms to calm her down, whispering soft words of comfort. It takes time, more time than they can afford, but she calms completely so that the boys can let go of her. Levy straightens up, ready to give her the newest gifts from her friends, but the clerk from the counter appears through the barred window and tells them in a monotone voice that their thirty minutes are up, please come again next week, and would any of you be interested in taking over my job? Wendy presses her hands on the blonde's forehead before they leave, hoping that with all her power she would be able to heal whatever was destroying Lucy's mind, but the clerk snaps and shoves her out.

Gajeel and Levy exchange a gloomy look, and then Levy takes Wendy by the hand and the five go back to Fairy Tail, ready to tell their _nakama_ how Lucy was not getting any better after all.

July 1st X794

It's Lucy's birthday, so the clerk allows the whole guild to come and say hi for an entire hour, provided they do not disturb the other patients. None can wait for the click of the door, and when it opens Gray squeezes himself to the front to be the first one in her room. He stops dead in his tracks. Lucy sits on the white bed.

But the white bed is no longer white. It is red.

And Lucy's white hospital gown is red as well.

And blood drips slowly from her lips,down across her chin and splish splashes onto the chest of her gown, to roll onto the already stained bed.

Her _nakama,_ her_ family_ stare at the room in horror. Most have been here before. Most can recall the sheer whiteness of the room.

It is now the color of blood. Blood drips from the ceiling, bloody handprints streak across the walls, and foot prints are everywhere, surprising even on the ceiling. What disturbs them the most, however, is the deep, deep scratches in everything. The concrete floor; the walls; the dresser... everything was dripping blood or ripped by nails.

Lucy giggles and her head twists around to face them. One eye gleams a fiery redish orange, and the other eye is pitch black. Her bloodstained lips lift into a horrific grin. Her family doesn't know what to do with this, so Happy is sent to fetch the clerk.

Lucy closes her red-gold eye and stares with the black one. The maniacal grin flares higher at the gasps of fright.

She reaches towards her old friends with a broken sort of smile and the blood drips off her fingers and splish splashes onto the cold floor. Before she can touch Gray even, a nurse in blue plunders through, with a giant needle in her grip. She motions for Gray to move out of the way _right now mister or else_ so that she can lunge forward and injects the serum into Lucy's chest. The bloody girl goes limp in seconds, and the nurse scoops her up and out of the room before anybody can react. Fairy Tail is left staring in a room dripping blood _splash splash_ onto the cold floor that held one of their most popular members for several years of lacryma induced insanity.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Only two Fairy Tail wizards are not mourning the loss of their celestial wizard. Laxus is showing the video tape to Natsu who watches in grief and horror as the previous hour is replayed, displaying the bloody scene where Lucy destroyed her room.

"That..." Natsu bit his lip, unable to hold in the tears sliding across his cheeks. Lucy would probably never become sane again.

"Exactly," Laxus confirms, with a sympathetic frown. "That is what happens when the body rejects Dragon Slayer Lacryma,"

* * *

**OMg could any of you tell why Lucy was insane? if you could, Kudos to you. Shadows is proud.**


	3. Not a tiger's fairy

**I'm just going to write for an hour, publish whatever I've managed to create, and then go to bed. And once again, thanks for the positive responses to my last chapter. I really love you guys ^3^**

**Summary:**

**Sting comes to join Fairy Tail, and Natsu can't help but notice how Lucy seems to be more interested in the tiger than in him.**

**Genres: Romance, and whatnot.**

**Pairings: Nalu, and some slight Sticy**

* * *

"Luuuuuuuuuuuuuuuucy."

"NO." the response is quick, and the rejected dragon-slayer groans irritably. He's tired of being ignored by his favorite person when she clearly has nothing better to do than hang out with him. She actually would rather read a _book_ of all things than spend time with him. Which was very unfair because they were partners, and should therefore be together every second of every day.

"Pleeeeeeeeeease?" he begs, rolling around on the floor of the guild, knowing that she wouldn't be able to ignore him when he gathered everybody's attention and would give in. "I wanna go on a misssiiiiiion!"

Lucy glares down at him from the bottom of her book. Her fierce expression quickly stills Natsu and he sits up with a sigh.

"I get it," He pouts, rubbing at fake tears. "You don't like me anymore!" Lucy rolls her eyes. "That's why you hate spending time with me!"

"I don't dislike spending time with you, Natsu," she mutters, returning her gaze to the book in her palms, "I just need to fini-"

But she is interrupted by the guild doors swinging open, revealing one of the twin slayers of Sabertooth. In a flash, Natsu is on his feet and ready to fight at the drop of a pin. Lucy peeks up when she hears the sudden movement, and finds the current electricity in the guild less appealing than her book. She looks up again when Sting strolls right up to where Natsu has positioned himself (protectively) in front of Lucy and flashes a grin at her.

Lucy blinks.

Suddenly, real life just got so much better.

Book forgotten, she slides off her seat at the bar and ignores Natsu's quick gasp to _get behind him because this idiot was dangerous!_

"'This Idiot' is standing right here," Sting remarked, bemused. He smiles softer at Lucy and she tightens her grip on the book almost unconsciously. How was he so _hot?_ "Anyways, I'm looking for Master Makarov. Would you mind bringing me to him, Lucy?"

And she barely realizes he knows her name because she (casually) nods quickly and begins to lead him up to the master's office.

Natsu watches them go, bristling, before he realizes that the tiger managed to steal her attention away from the book and onto him with just two smiles and a question, when his begging and pleading had only given him an angry glare.

Did Lucy like Sting better than him?

Or maybe, he thinks, he's using charm magic on her, like that Bora guy back in Hargeon. With a gasp, Natsu leaps to his feet, ready to run up the stairs and save his best friend from the evil tiger.

* * *

Natsu pouts and glares at Lucy. The blonde sighs and pets his hair, despite being livid with him. As soon as her and Sting had stepped into Master's office, the fiery idiot had leaped through the doors after them and tackled Sting. Makarov had ended up tossing both Lucy and Natsu out so that he could talk to Sting without the chance of being attacked again.

"You're the one in fault here," Lucy tells him as she settles next to him. "Don't you act like I'm the bad guy."

"You're a meanie," Natsu retorts with a hurt frown. "You completely ignore me, but Sting comes along and suddenly, he's your best friend?"

He shakes his head and looks away from her to show that he wasn't very pleased. Lucy stares at him for a while without speaking, and he is just beginning to wonder why when she suddenly stands up and briskly walks away. Natsu watched her go and slapped himself on the forehead. Great. He's managed to offend Lucy now. Maybe he shouldn't have called her a meanie, but it really wasn't fair of her to play with Sting instead of him when he'd asked first.

The long forgotten mission sheet that he'd lost while rolling on the floor was suddenly thrust into his face, and Natsu looks around it to see Lucy smiling at him.

"Why don't we go on this mission, then, and forget about Sting, kay? Just you and me." Natsu beams happily, because they haven't done a mission by themselves in such a long time, and here Lucy was, suggesting it without him even begging for it. His joy is too much, so he glomps onto her with a huge grin.

"YOSH!" he cheers, even more pleased when Lucy doesn't pull away. The blonde chuckles warmly and waits a few more seconds to slip away and get their mission approved by Mira.

* * *

"Why did you act like that?" Lucy asks softly when they are lying on the roof of the hotel in Shikobe town. It is night and the stars are out, so she has dragged bedware up to the roof to sleep on it.

"...Like what?" Natsu rumbles, equally as quiet. He turns his head to look at the blonde as she gazes at the sky.

"Like... oh, I don't know. The way you acted when Sting asked to join Fairy Tail. Why did you respond like that?" Lucy murmurs with a glance at her partner. She blinks at the closeness but with Natsu, she never has privacy anymore so she just ignores it. She misses the soft rosy glow on his cheeks when she turns back to face the night sky.

"It... it bothered me," Natsu admits, rubbing at his blush awkwardly. "I didn't like the way he rubbed himself all over you. It was like he was trying to ... to seduce you."

Lucy snorts, and the calm seriousness of the moment fades as the two crack up. "I don't think you understood what was going on," Lucy giggles, amused. "He was just apologizing with a hug."

Silence, again.

"Apologizing for what?"

Lucy turns sober, laying back onto her nest of blankets quietly. "For Rogue... for _future_ Rogue killing future me. He apologized for the damage done by him."

"Oh." it hadn't looked like that from his point of view, but that did make sense. Natsu waits for Lucy to look back at him, and then he wiggles over so that they are laying side by side. He holds his breath, but when the kick doesn't come he decides he's safe and inches an arm out. Lucy starts to shake, and after a brief moment of panic he realizes that she is laughing. "Oi, what's so funny?" he asks, curious.

Lucy doesn't answer him in words. Instead, she twists around to peck him on the cheek, and then curls into his side with a small smile. Natsu stares at the girl tucked into him in surprise, but then again she's been surprising him all day long.

But a _kiss_? How did this...?

He chooses not to dwell on the why for the moment, and instead stretches the arm around Lucy's shoulders to pull her even closer, and then resting his chin on her head with a peaceful smile.

Guess he probably shouldn't mention that he had already punched the former tiger out cold before they had left.

Why ruin the moment?

* * *

**Short, but it's been an hour already. I wanted to write something a little happier after giving you all that creepy chapter. Hoped you all enjoyed, and stay tuned for the next update!**


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